Technologies, automation and sustainability for the evolution of tissue converting

Pulp fibre integration is becoming increasingly common within tissue paper manufacturing. Recent developments have primarily focused on forward and captive integration models. Key drivers behind this trend include the need for fibre supply security and diversification. This presentation will explore how fibre integration is affecting cost structures in tissue converting, influencing competitive dynamics, and introducing new capital and operational demands. It will also examine the associated risks and benefits, providing a comprehensive view of the strategic implications. Beyond cost impacts, the session will highlight how integration influences market positioning, long-term competitiveness, and insights from regions outside Europe.

In today’s competitive market, innovation and collaboration are key drivers of success. This presentation will explore the potential of combining pilot trials of two tissue disciplines: tissue making and tissue converting, to deliver unparalleled value to tissue producers. By merging expertise and resources, the joint initiative aims to optimize production processes, enhance product quality and boost operational efficiency. What sets this approach apart is its holistic response to customer needs. Integrating advanced technologies, extensive laboratory testing and wide expertise in a common product and process development project ensures a consistent approach with the same project team from start to end, poised to deliver innovative solutions realizing ideas and meeting set goals. Running pilot trials covering the process from fiber to finished products is a cost-efficient way of testing new products and processes while minimizing risks and maximizing potential. Tissue producers will benefit from enhanced product quality, reduced time-tomarket, and increased competitiveness. Realizing one idea with one team for one goal expands market opportunities – leveraging the full capabilities from Valmet Tissue Making and Tissue Converting.

Giotto Technologies’ solutions enhance product quality, sustainability, production flexibility, and cost efficiency. The GENIUM rewinder features a three-roll guided winding system that ensures a uniform roll profile and dynamic cradle supports that adjust to core diameters. For the first time in tissue converting, direct-drive torque motors are used, enabling up to 15% energy savings, eliminating hydraulics and noise, and reducing maintenance over time. The TRIPLER unit enables experimentation with new embossing solutions to launch innovative multi-ply rolls on the market. Embossing and ply lamination are performed through simultaneous passage between three embossing rolls. By varying the roll configuration, up to eight different embossing patterns can be achieved, offering high bulk and exceptional softness.

The folded tissue market is evolving rapidly, driven by changing consumer habits and regional demands. In this dynamic environment, BW Converting introduces the VENTUS-TI platform – its next-generation solution for high-speed production of interfolded facial tissues and hand towels. It features a 2-panel V-fold format, and an innovative folding system engineered for low energy consumption and minimal component wear. Designed for flexibility, performance, and efficiency and powered by technologies from W+D and STAX brands, this platform covers the full process: from mother reel to converting and from packaging to palletizing. Additionally, customers can benefit from the support of our Northern Engraving product specialists and the in-house EMBOSSING TechniLAB in Lucca, where tailored solutions are co-developed and embossing performance is optimized. Join our session to discover how BW Converting addresses today’s technical challenges in folded tissue converting.

In a production context like tissue converting, where efficiency, automation, and integration are key factors, it has become increasingly important for converters to rely on a Full Service Provider: a single partner capable of managing all stages of the production process. This choice allows for a single point of contact for every need, simplifying management, improving operational continuity, and making production flows more efficient. OMET’s technological offering covers the entire process, from unwinding to palletizing, including both primary and secondary packaging, with tangible benefits in terms of centralized control and resource optimization. Among the available solutions, the possibility of bypassing primary packaging and directly inserting folded products into the final box helps reduce waste while streamlining resources and time. In response to market demands, OMET has also developed a new cartoner: compact, versatile in format management, and designed for seamless integration with upstream machines. Thanks to an integrated and flexible approach, OMET is able to meet market challenges with innovative, customizable solutions focused on maximizing productivity and final product quality.

Futura, following the vision and guidance of Fabio Perini, continues to innovate in product quality, performance, and operational expenditure reduction. Its mission is to supply the fastest, most efficient, and least staffed converting line in the world. Since adopting the Customer’s perspective as a guiding principle, Futura has been working tirelessly to make it possible to deliver the most effective converting lines globally, with the highest level of customization, without significantly impacting the Customer’s Capex. This achievement is the result of a team effort. The game changer lies in Futura’s Project Management methodology and its strong commitment: the term “team” refers not only to internal resources but also to a joint collaboration between the Customer and Futura’s project management team. Over time, Futura has succeeded in building a level of trust and transparency that makes all stakeholders feel confident and fully engaged. What this means for the final product: Maintaining the highest level of performance; Elevating quality standards; Incorporating the Partner’s process needs; Continuously improving and learning how to make the lines safer, without compromises. This ongoing improvement process is stimulating, highly challenging, and extremely rewarding. It is what allows Futura to maintain its leadership in the global market of converting machinery.

To succeed in the era of “Logistics 5.0,” it is essential to understand how to build and develop an automated factory. This new age has brought advancements such as the use of vehicles and robots for goods handling and movement (e.g., AGVs and AMRs), sensors, IoT connectivity, and advanced IT systems with management and data analysis software. This presentation aims to explain how to design and develop an automated factory in the simplest possible way, starting from fundamental principles – perhaps already familiar to the audience – to others that may not yet have been considered. While some traditional management practices remain valid, technological progress has introduced new challenges and opportunities. What has changed today are the tools used in daily operations: mechanical equipment is now integrated with electronics, and human labor works alongside machines. Resource management has also evolved – including personnel, equipment, goods, and, ultimately, data. When it comes to data, the key lies in the integration of IT and OT, from upstream to downstream systems.

At E80 Group, safety is the guiding principle of every project and translates into the development of increasingly advanced solutions. SmartDect is a patented device that, thanks to ultra-wideband technology, can be implemented without the need for additional infrastructure. This system enhances the ability of LGVs (Laser Guided Vehicles) to detect the presence of nearby operators equipped with tags, reducing risks associated with unpredictable behaviors and potentially dangerous situations. E80 Group has also advanced the automation of truck loading and unloading through LGVs – a technology already well established in the U.S. and now extended to the European market. The modular system connects the warehouse directly to the loading bays, handling pallets of different sizes with millimetric precision, while ensuring operational continuity, safety, and space optimization. These innovations integrate seamlessly to improve plant safety and efficiency, marking a significant step forward toward increasingly advanced intralogistics.